Dreams in Ink
by SasuHina-Hime
Summary: Hinata is a gentle florist going through a hard time. Naruto is a cheerful, outgoing tattoo artist cruising through life. But as they say, opposites attract. AU. Naruhina


**Hey everyone! This story is inspired by my obsession with Ink Master. If you enjoy this chapter please follow, favorite, and review :)**

Hinata stood in disbelief as she laid eyes upon her cousin's pale, limp, dead body.

With every look her eyes swelled with tears, as hard as she tried to hold them back. At the very least, his rest was seemingly peaceful.

 _"Who thought an open casket funeral would be a good idea?_ " Hinata thought to herself as she excused herself away from the main crowd. She headed to the hallway where she gradually drooped into an upright fetal position and began to weep quietly. Hinata felt a hand on her shoulder and she raised her head.

"I don't need to be consoled. I just need some alone time Hanabi," Hinata said breaking the silence. She crouched down to Hinata's level and handed her a handkerchief. Hinata hesitantly grabbed it and wiped her tears and attempted to pull herself together.

"You need to stop blaming your self Hinata. Neji didn't put down his life to see you like this," the little sister replied.

"He didn't have to save me. I should've been the one to be hit by the drunk driver. I was reckless, and now Neji is dead because of it." Hinata began to cry once again. Hanabi sighed and pulled her elder sister into a hug.

"It's going to be okay."

"Sis, wake up. Oi come on. Hinata. GET UP HINATA!"

Hanabi had started her day just as she had been doing so for since Neji's death two weeks ago; waking Hinata up. Excessive amounts of sleep was a sign of depression, and Hanabi was determined to keep Hinata's mental state stable by any means necessary, including taking over the role of older sister and Hinata's regulating sleep and meals.

"Breakfast is on the table. Go eat before it gets cold. I'm gonna catch the bus to school in a bit."

Hinata sat up groggily and glanced towards Hanabi's direction. She watched as her sister rummaged through her makeup collection, grabbed a concealer, and began applying it underneath her eyes. At this point Hinata felt a pang of guilt shock her.

"Hanabi, you don't need to wake up early to make me breakfast every day. You're not fooling anyone by covering the darkness under your eyes."

"Yeah yeah, save your breath," Hanabi retorted.

"How about I drop you off at school today? " Hinata suggested. She got arose from her bed and headed towards her closet to pull out some clothes.

"You don't have to bother yourself, sis. The bus stop isn't too far away."

"It's fine. I w-want to go back to work today," Hinata declared. Upon hearing this, Hanabi's eyes lit up. She wondered when Hinata would be getting back to the flower shop, but was reluctant to ask to avoid the pressure and expectation that might come along with her curiosity.

"Sure thing," Hanabi said trying not to sound too excited,"I'll wait downstairs while you get ready."

Hinata dressed herself in a plain white t-shirt and pair of distressed light washed skinnies. She pulled on a pair of converse and looked into the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Although she was finally making an attempt to get back into her usual routine, it was a slow progression, and her style wasn't quite back to 100%.

After dropping Hanabi off at school, Hinata headed straight to Yamanaka Flowers where she'd decided to help her friend Ino out for the summer and earn money for her college tuition. She'd been parked in her regular parking spot for the last 10 minutes trying to muster up the courage to face everyone at work again.

Hinata took a deep breath. "This is ridiculous. What's wrong with me?" She stepped out of the car and headed straight into the shop. The familiar smell of flowers calmed her nerves at once. The sight of bright, fresh flowers was a much needed view after spending two weeks shut into her room. Hinata didn't have much time to take in the atmosphere as she was immediately spotted by none other than the shop owner herself.

"Oh my gosh! Hinata! I've missed you," Ino said as she dropped the papers she was looking over and dashed towards her friend and pulled her into a tight hug. Hinata hugged back and allowed herself a small smile.

"Why didn't you call in and say you'd be in today? Not that I'm complaining you're here or anything," Ino added quickly.

"Honestly, it was a l-last minute decision," Hinata admitted sheepishly.

"Oh whatever. The shop and I have been so lonely without you!"

"And I thought I was enough to please you Ino," another worker chimed in. "Hello Hinata. Lovely seeing you back."

"Hi Sai. Hope you guys haven't had too much of a work load without me."

"Well actually-"

"It's been totally fine!" Ino was quick to interrupt Sai as usual. She almost never allowed him to directly interact with the customers due to his blunt and unintentionally rude nature, which left him to placing orders for the shop and organization, but with Hinata gone Ino hadn't had a choice other than letting Sai taking over Hinata's workload.

"I was just going to say I've been enjoying the change of pace," Sai stated.

Hinata simply smiled and turned back to Ino. "You don't mind if I get right back to work do you?"

"You can start whenever you're ready!"

Hinata kept herself busy for the next few hours by helping customers and chatting with Ino and Sai. She couldn't help feel a sense of guilt for allowing her younger sister to invest so much time worrying about her personal wellbeing, but she refused to carry the same attitude and feelings through to her work. Once the workload slowed down, Ino directed Sai to take over the shop while she and Hinata took a break upstairs, which served as the Yamanaka household itself. Hinata and Ino made themselves comfortable in the living room and snacked on some cheese and crackers courtesy of Ino's mom.

"Hinata, how are you actually feeling right now? You don't have to hide it from me," Ino started abruptly. Hinata had anticipated this question and was quite frankly dreading it.

"I don't know Ino. I still feel guilty every time I think about it. I feel I'm going to end up taking advantage of the life Neji sacrificed himself for." Hinata felt her eyes swelling up with tears once again.

"Well duh, why wouldn't you take advantage of it?!"

"I just wish I had a way to thank him."

"Well maybe you can. Out of everyone I know, you admired Neji the most. I'm sure you could think of something to put yourself at ease," Ino said genuinely.

"I got it," Hinata declared.

"Got what?" Asked a confused Ino.

"How I'm gonna thank him. I'm going to get a tattoo.

 **Well that's it for the first chapter guys! Definitely planning on having the fated couple meeting next chapter :) please review whether you loved it or have some constructive criticism!**


End file.
